The Dragon Reborn (book thoughts) by Robert Jordan

 

The Wheel of Time – see review: 🗡🗡🗡🗡

The Great Hunt – see review – 🗡🗡🗡🗡🗡

 

I can’t believe it took nearly three months to struggle through this book, although there were multiple reasons for it.

First off, after the first two chapters or so I was bored to tears.  It took RJ 300+ pages just to get the characters down their respective rivers, and I was so bored by the Egwene & Nynaeve & Aes Sedai storyline.

Mat turning into a superhero was the only reason I didn’t just give up

Secondly, the buddy read itself.  I was doing well with it until my ex ghosted and of course obviously dropped the chat. I really liked our buddy reads so it soured the book for me a bit. I got so far behind the rest of the group and ended up letting it sit for a few weeks.

Towards the end, once the action picked back up – say the last 100 pages – I couldn’t put it down.  Overall I would say TDR was unevenly paced, mostly slow, and so repetitive

Bookish Quick Facts:

• Title: The Dragon Reborn
• Series: The Wheel of Time, #3
• Author: Robert Jordan
• Publisher & Release: Tor Books, Sept 1991
• Length: 624pgs
• Rate & Recommend: 🗡🗡🗡 three swords for being what it is

Here is the synopsis:

The Dragon Reborn—the leader long prophesied who will save the world, but in the saving destroy it; the savior who will run mad and kill all those dearest to him—is on the run from his destiny.

Able to touch the One Power, but unable to control it, and with no one to teach him how—for no man has done it in three thousand years—Rand al’Thor knows only that he must face the Dark One. But how?

Winter has stopped the war—almost—yet men are dying, calling out for the Dragon. But where is he?

Perrin Aybara is in pursuit with Moiraine Sedai, her Warder Lan, and Loial the Ogier. Bedeviled by dreams, Perrin is grappling with another deadly problem—how is he to escape the loss of his own humanity?

Egwene, Elayne and Nynaeve are approaching Tar Valon, where Mat will be healed—if he lives until they arrive. But who will tell the Amyrlin their news—that the Black Ajah, long thought only a hideous rumor, is all too real? They cannot know that in Tar Valon far worse awaits…

Ahead, for all of them, in the Heart of the Stone, lies the next great test of the Dragon reborn….

The worldbuilding and characters continue to be good in themselves but I really didn’t care for the three women at all in this installment. Their chapters were mostly the hard to read, boring ones, although Person got awfully repetitive too in the dream world.

Mat randomly turned into a superhero, and he was my favorite. The amount of Perrin has to be leading up to something, while it was just weird to see so little of Rand, minus his little coup de grâce at the end.  Like seriously I expected a lot more of Rand.

 

** this paragraph may contain a spoiler but it’s fairly obvious from book one:** My theory about Ba’alzamon vs Ishamael was finally confirmed, which was something.  It was so naïve of Rand to think he was dead!

The ending was exciting though, I just think Jordan could have shortened it up a lot by not repeating himself so much and maybe speeding up some of the travelling segments. Like did Rand just run the whole way on foot and still beat the others?  Why 300 pages to have them sailing down the rivers?

The new dark creatures, and the banter of the new character (falcon) were some of my favorite parts.  I liked the addition of the Aiel in the storyline too.   Also, where was Min in this one?

I’m going to give this series one more book but I’m really not sure if I will end up continuing past the next book, all 1001 pages of it!

I mean I’m not delusional enough to think that all 14 books are going to be exciting but this one was by far the hardest to get through so far. 

Have you read them? What do you think?

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